The Cross & The Empty Tomb

We speak about the cross, about carrying our crosses, about laying down our worries at the feet of the cross.  The cross – the symbol of His infinite and unfailing love.

I stand beneath Your cross and I look up, I see Love, my sins, my unworthiness, and my redemption.  And then I look at the empty tomb – Love fulfilled.  The tomb of my sins washed clean.  The tomb of my failures, gone.  Your resurrection is my Hope fulfilled.

The cross, Your Love.  The empty tomb, Your victory.
The cross, my salvation.  The empty tomb, my Hope.
The cross, a reminder of the life in this world.  The empty tomb, a reminder of heaven.

Beneath Your feet my tears fall, outside your empty tomb my heart rejoices.  Lord Jesus, my God, unworthy as I am, Your Love overtakes me.  There is nothing more than I want than to rejoice in Your victory.

Help me.

1144 06.18.2018

How often I’ve wandered
And returned when I am wounded.
With arms wide open,
You wait and mend and heal me.

How often have I leapt
Only to fall and hurt myself –
And watched as my broken pieces
Are picked up by the hands that bled for me.

djane
05.15.2018

Jesus Owns You

In the Philippines, especially in its capital Manila, the roads are filled with these rowdy jeepneys – the engine sound, the sudden stops, the blings and stickers on their bodies.  As a driver, you would want to stay as far away from them as possible which is an impossible feat in the metro.  These jeeps would often have names written on their body or hanged on the back, sometimes stickers of zodiac signs, artwork, or the face of Jesus, others hang signs like “God bless our trip” or some pinoy hugot or humor quotes.

As I was done with my first trip this morning and on my way to the second one, I was already getting cheesed off with the bad Manila traffic, the buses and pedestrians, the chaos so early on a Monday morning.  And it’s a Monday.  Half-way to my second destination, this jeep cut me and I was about to lose it when I saw what’s written on its side “Jesus Owns You” and it spells JOY.

So simple.  3-letter word.  3 words.  Says it all.  It occurred to me how we all strive and struggle to be happy, to find peace, to be filled with joy – the joy that the world can never ever take away from us.  We search, we seek, we ask, we knock yet often we are left asking for more or asking more questions.  All along, what Jesus is telling us, what God wants from us, is to be owned by Him – yet we cannot have that.  I am my own, this is my life – don’t we all say that and live that?  I want joy but I want my life to be my own as well.  Hmm… I really don’t know how we can work around that when JOY is simply being owned by Jesus.

What does it mean to be owned by Jesus and why do most of us resist?

To be owned even just by someone is to be a slave of that person, to obey and act on that person’s commands.  Didn’t God give me

None

Because He lives;
Because He forgives;
Because He is God;
Because He is Almighty;
Because He saves;
Because He loves me.
What reasons do I have
Not to believe, not to trust?
None.
Because there’s none like Jesus,
None like God,
Who will take all of me –
Even the broken, sinful part of me –
To embrace them all and love me.

© May 4, 2017

Only God

Only You can see my tears and know exactly what they mean;

And only You can wipe these tears and fill this empty space within;

Because only You know what’s in my heart and give exactly what it needs;

Only You can steady this heart and bring back the peace within. 

© April 30, 2017

Amate i Vostri Nemici

Love your enemies.

Simple.  Direct.  Crazy.  But, why should I?  How could I?

In theory, it’s already hard to postulate.  In practice, what more?  The world sees this as the craziest idea – a world that demands justice, revenge, vengeance sugar-coated into something we sometimes use as ‘I’m just teaching him a lesson’ or ‘He deserves it’.  Oh, how kind of us, teaching lessons, giving deserving presents!  And the world who loves gossips and dramas would be against a person who quietly accepts persecution and forgives – corny, boring, stupid.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for an eye, and tooth for tooth.’  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person.  If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:38 – 42

Personally, I struggle with this command.  It’s just too hard to comprehend and it goes against lessons the society has taught me growing up.  I look at a society that demands

I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 

When we view life as a race, we have this tendency to compete and win at all cost, sometimes even forgetting our values and trampling on other people’s worth just to emerge as winners, successful or powerful people. God gave us a life to travel along with Him, to journey and enjoy each moment. When we race through life, we do not stop and smell flowers. That is contrary to what life is about. Learn to slow down, to enjoy each moment, to rest in His love and to trust in His purpose. Learn to trust the journey. ☺

Easter

Winter is over, spring has come
The flowers bloom
There’s an empty tomb
Crossing over death, He’s done
From cross to grave
He defeated death
Lent is over, Easter has come
Alleluia, He’s risen
Christ is truly risen!

22:51 03.30.16 ©

Merciful Father

Whenever I reflect on God’s Mercy, I cannot help but be amazed of the love that He has for His disobedient and stubborn people.  I see how unworthy I am of such love and how faithful He is for keeping His covenant in spite of all that the other party, we, does.  Seeing this love always drives me to tears and gratitude and makes me see that all other things matter less in this world.

One parable commonly told is that of the prodigal son, in other texts it is entitled the parable of the Merciful Father and rightly so.  Often the focus is on the son who

What You Let Distracts You.

For the past 3 days, I’ve been repeatedly listening to Joyce Meyer’s ministry on podcast about this topic: Using Your Time Wisely.  I know I needed a lot of guidance in that aspect of my life and I know I needed to do something about it.  I listen to it again and again because I want to internalize every single lesson I am going to get from this ministry.  True enough, our gracious God sent His help in the matter.  Aside from the ministry, I am given today a strong Word about God’s visitation in my life.  Just when the term ‘visitation’ resonated with me from that podcast ministry, I get a reading that warns me about what happen when I do not realize God’s visitation in my life.

What about visitation from the podcast ministry of Joyce Meyer?

The word visitation and the meaning and importance of it resounded to me only on the second day I listened to the ministry.  It made so much impact on me that I pondered on it – what do I usually do when God distracts my routine, my plan?  

Grace

Grace is everything Jesus. Grace lives because He does, works because He works, and matters because He matters. To be saved by grace is to be saved by Him, not by an idea, rule, or church membership, but by Jesus himself, who will sweep into Heaven anyone who so much as gives Him the nod. Not, mind you, in response to a finger snap, religious chant, or secret handshake. Grace won’t be stage-managed. It’s like Jesus himself: uncontainable, untamable.
Like a wild, whitewater kayak ride that is thrilling and scary and joyful. Grace isn’t merely an app to be acquired. It’s an adventure to be lived.
~ Max Lucado (One God, One Plan, One Life)

Pity and Love

I witnessed God this morning, along a major road in the metro. A guy helped an old man cross the big street. The old man has his one foot wrapped in cloths and a plastic. After crossing, the guy sat the old man by the bus stop then proceeded to get something from his backpack. He produced the crackers he had inside and gave it to the old man before going along his way.

It made my day, to see an angel, to witness Jesus in the metro, in the rush of cars and commuters, this scene was highlighted to me.

And I realize, we all feel pity. It’s our emotional response to situations we encounter wherein we find ourselves better off than the other. Pity, for me, is just that – an emotional response and often we leave it at that. It is LOVE that drives pity to do something other than feel sorry. It is Love that gives the push to act, to do something about it.

Thank You for this revelation. ❤️

More Than Conquerors

07.11.14 7:03

We have a battle, every day.  It’s on, all the time – a battle against the flesh, against the evil of this world, against Satan. 

Our weapon is mighty – if only we use it, if only we depend on it, if only we hang on to it.  Our defense makes us more than conquerors, our Guide has went before us, the battle has been won yet in our weaknesses we fall back.

Let us hold on to Him, to His Word, to Jesus Christ, whose love has made us more than conquerors of the this world.

 

“The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.” ~ Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

“In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” ~ Romans 8:37 (NIV)

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~ 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 (NIV)

“Jesus made it clear that the most essential thing you can do is to learn to sit at His feet and listen to His words. God doesn’t necessarily need you to do anything for Him. He doesn’t need your time, service, money, or talents to accomplish His will. He wants your heart and devotion first.”

~Ben Young